1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telecommunication systems and, more particularly, to a system and method for providing wireless local loop access to remote site users by way of a digital subscriber line access multiplexer.
2. Description of Related Art
The remote access market is undergoing a major metamorphosis. Three factors serve as catalysts for change. The first is the growing number of users, for example, small office I home office (SOHO) users, demanding high performance Internet and remote access for multimedia. The second factor is the Telecommunications Reform Act, which is fostering broader competition through deregulation. The third and final factor is congestion in the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), originally designed and developed for only voice traffic.
While there have been important advances that enable high rates of throughput in carrier networks"" backbone connections, efforts to meet the demand for remote access are beset by the limitations of the existing twisted-pair copper cable infrastructure provided between a carrier""s central office (CO) and a subscriber""s remote site, typically referred to as the local loop. In the telecommunications art, these limitations are sometimes collectively described as the last-mile problem.
Current advances in technology are making it possible to get more bandwidth from the existing twisted-pair copper cable infrastructure. One of these developments is the Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology which utilizes the local loop telephone wiring already installed to virtually every home and business in the world, but does not depend on the rest of the PSTN infrastructure.
DSL is a modem technology for converting existing twisted-pair telephone lines into access paths for multimedia and high-speed data communications. Some versions of this technology are asymmetric with different data rates in the downstream and upstream directions (to and from the subscriber, respectively). Others are symmetric, providing the same data rate both upstream and downstream. Regardless of the version, DSL technology provides three distinct advantages: (i) separation of voice and data communications, (ii) ability to implement the technology incrementally and inexpensively, and (iii) effective utilization of the open market place created by local loop deregulation.
An Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) circuit connects an ADSL modem on each end of a twisted-pair telephone line, creating three information channelsxe2x80x94a high speed downstream channel, a medium speed duplex channel, and depending on the implementation of the ADSL architecture, a Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS ) or an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) channel. The POTS/ISDN channel is split off from the digital modem by filters, thus guaranteeing uninterrupted POTS/ISDN connectivity, even if ADSL fails. The high speed channel ranges from 1.5 to 6.1 megabits per second (Mbps) of throughput, while duplex rates range from 16 to 640 kilobits per second (Kbps).
Although the advances described hereinabove provide solutions to some of the problems encountered in current local loop technologies, they suffer from various deficiencies and shortcomings. First, these state-of-the-art solutions involve the use of the existing copper cabling infrastructure, thereby limiting the availability of such solutions only to areas where there is already such cabling. In areas without copper cabling, or with twisted-pair installations having unreliable and unpredictable quality, any advantages offered by the current solutions are quickly diminished. Moreover, installing new twisted-pair wiring in such areas is not only expensive, but also suffers from slow deployment and physical limitations imposed by existing structures. Additionally, there may be regulatory restrictions that need to be complied with, whether or not new cabling is desirable.
Based on the foregoing, it is apparent that in order to address these and other problems of the current technologies set forth above, what is needed is a wireless solution that advantageously offers a high-speed remote access network (or, local loop network) that is capable of delivering broadband content and applications. The present invention provides such a solution.
In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a resource allocation method for distributing an aggregate bandwidth into a plurality of access channels which form a distribution side of an access network. The network includes an access multiplexer coupled to a Point of Presence (POP) module that is disposed on an aggregate side of the network running at a high bit rate. The distribution side includes a Network Management System (NMS) and a plurality of network termination nodes, each associated with a corresponding user or subscriber. In accordance with the resource allocation method of the present invention, the NMS creates one or more service subscription profiles, wherein each of the service subscription profiles is associated with a corresponding user/subscriber and defines the subscriber""s bandwidth requirements and other Quality of Service (QOS) parameters. The service subscription profiles are stored in a database associated with the NMS. An aggregate path between the access multiplexer and the POP module is established for providing the aggregate bandwidth. One or more Label Switched Paths (LSPs) between the POP module and at least a portion of the plurality of the network termination nodes are effectuated via the access multiplexer, wherein each LSP provides an access channel that is substantially based on the service subscription profile corresponding to the network termination node which terminates the LSP.
In a further aspect, the present invention is directed to a system for providing broadband wireless access to a plurality of network termination nodes. The system comprises a POP switch disposed in a high-throughput carrier network and a wireless access multiplexer connected to the POP switch via an aggregate path, the aggregate path providing an aggregate bit rate. An NMS is coupled to the wireless access multiplexer which includes a database for storing a plurality of service subscription profiles associated with corresponding subscribers. In the database, each subscriber is identified with a particular network termination node. The access multiplexer establishes a plurality of wireless access channels to the corresponding network termination nodes based on the service subscription profiles stored in the NMS. Each of the wireless access channels provides a distribution bit rate that is a portion of the aggregate bit rate available on the aggregate path.